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COSTA RICA / PANAMA

Adventures Afloat: The Natural and Man-Made Marvels of Panama and Costa Rica

Itinerary for Jan 16 — Jan 24, 2015

Description: Riande Aeropuerto Hotel & Resort is located in Tocumen and near the airport. Los Pueblos Commercial Center, Metromall Panama, and Estadio Rommel Fernandez are local attractions. Regional points of interest also include Panama Old Cathedral and Explore Museum.

Room amenities: Rooms feature safes and complimentary newspapers. Beds come with down blankets. Bathrooms feature showers, complimentary toiletries, and hair dryers. In addition to desks, guestrooms offer phones with voice mail. High-definition televisions have cable channels. Rooms also include irons/ironing boards and clock radios. A turndown service is available nightly, housekeeping is offered daily, and guests may request wake-up calls.

Facility amenities: In addition to 2 restaurants, Riande Aeropuerto Hotel & Resort offers a snack bar/deli and a coffee shop/café. A poolside bar and a bar/lounge are open for drinks. Room service is available 24 hours a day. The resort serves breakfast each morning. Recreational amenities include an outdoor pool and a health club. This 4-star property has a business center and offers small meeting rooms, limo/town car service, and audiovisual equipment. Complimentary wireless Internet access is available in public areas and the resort has a computer station. This Tocumen property has event space consisting of a conference center, banquet facilities, and conference/meeting rooms. Complimentary shuttle services include a roundtrip airport shuttle (available 24 hours) and a shopping center shuttle. Guest parking is complimentary. Other property amenities at this Art Deco property include a casino, a terrace, and barbecue grills. Extended parking privileges may be offered to guests after check-out (surcharge). This is a smoke-free property. A total renovation of this property was completed in December 2012. 183 air-conditioned guestrooms.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Arrive To: Flights arrive to Panama City, Panama. If you are arranging your own flights, we do not recommend arriving in Panama City later than 4:00 so you do not miss the program orientation or welcome dinner.

Morning: Depart the hotel for a 30 minute drive to Miraflores where you will see the huge vessels passing through the Panama Canal. The busiest hours are from 9:00 am to 10:00 am and from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, so you will be able to see many ships getting lifted or lowered 16 meters in two distinct steps. Enjoy the view of the locks from a sheltered terrace while your guide explains the history and construction of the canal. Visit the Museum and Visitor Center at Miraflores to learn more about this masterpiece of engineering, and its significance. After visiting the canal continue on the Amador Causeway, a road that connects three islands in the Pacific Ocean and offers magnificent views with the Canal on one side and Panama City on the other.

Lunch: Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: After lunch, continue to Casco Viejo, Panama City's colonial quarter. At Casco Viejo you will feel as though you have stepped back in time with the lovely colonial houses, narrow roads and impressive churches. Continue to Colon to board the National Geographic Sea Lion for 7 nights. Check in to the ship and settle into your cabin before dinner.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Day Three: Sunday, January 18 - Gatun Lake / Panama Canal Transit

Breakfast: On board the ship.

Morning: This morning you will visit Barro Colorado Nature Monument in Gatun Lake via expedition landing craft. The island is inaccessible to most travelers and, by special arrangement, guides from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute accompany us through the tropical forest.

Lunch: On board the ship.

Afternoon: Reboard to continue crossing the Panama Canal.

Dinner: On board the ship.

Evening: First part of Panama Canal transit. A daylight transit cannot be guaranteed since cargo ships have priority over passenger ships. The Canal, however, is
dramatically lit at night.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Day Five: Tuesday, January 20 - Isla Coiba National Park

Breakfast: On board the ship.

Morning: Isla Coiba is one of Panama’s most remote national parks, where you may enjoy the pristine beach. The area is perfect for swimming, snorkeling and kayaking.
Isla Coiba National Park is a group of 38 islands including Coiba Island (Isla Coiba) and the waters surrounding them and covers 430,825 acres. Identified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2005, Coiba National Park offers rich and well preserved natural resources. Because Isla Coiba served Panama as a penal colony, access to the island was very restricted. Almost by accident, 80% of the islands natural resources have survived untouched and flourished through limited human contact. Coiba National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Day Six: Wednesday, January 21 - Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica

Breakfast: On board the ship.

Morning: Today you will make your first landfall in Costa Rica. Excursion to Casa Orquideas, a privately owned garden accessible by boat and only by invitation, to view orchids, tanagers, parrots and gaudy toucans.
Take a guided visit through the beautiful gardens at Casa Orquideas or "Orchid House." Casa Orquideas is a private botanical garden cultivated by long-time local residents, who have lovingly landscaped this homestead for over 20 years. They have amassed a wonderful collection of tropical fruit trees, bromeliads, cycads, palms, heliconias, ornamental plants and more than 100 varieties of orchids. See, smell, and touch a wide variety of beautiful ornamental plants and taste some unusual fruits.

Morning: Anchor off the remote Osa Pennisula.
Excursion to Corcovado National Park for a swim in the waterfall and kayaking.

Discover Corcovado National Park, a pristine rainforest, populated by a number of endangered species including puma, tapir, poison dart frogs, crocodile, jaguar, and marine turtles. It is home to the largest population of scarlet macaws in Costa Rica. Close to 400 species of birds have been seen here. There are also around 140 mammals and over 500 species of trees. Giant trees draped with vines and lianas and supported by massive buttress roots tower over the forest floor. Corcovado is inundated with nearly 20 feet of rain a year and is technically known as a very humid tropical lowland rainforest.

Lunch: On board the ship.

Afternoon: Hike through the rainforest trails on a wildlife viewing excursion and search for the park's three species of monkey – howler, spider and squirrel.

Smoking policy: YesSmoking policies vary by facility. During all group events and activities, smoking is prohibited.

Day Eight: Friday, January 23 - Manuel Antonio National Park.

Breakfast: On board the ship.

Morning: Today explore early, when the wildlife is most active. Our Naturalists point out monkeys or birds as they zip through the forest, and lethargic three-toed sloths in the trees.
Manuel Antonio National Park was created in 1972. Although it is the country's smallest national park, the stunning beauty and diversity of wildlife in its 1683 acres is unequaled. Manuel Antonio contains a charming combination of rain forest, beaches and coral reefs. The beaches are amongst some the most beautiful in the country, bathed by warm ocean waters and lined with lush forest. The forest is home to an incredible variety of wildlife including; sloths, iguanas, the rare and adorable squirrel monkeys, as well as millions of colorful little crabs.

Lunch: On board the ship.

Afternoon: Take a final hike or swim along Costa Rica's Pacific coast.

Important information about your itinerary: Please know that while we do everything we can to finalize all aspects of our programs well in advance, there are logistics that occasionally must be altered. Our website will reflect the most recent information, and we are committed to providing you with final program details no later than eight weeks prior to the start of programs outside the U.S. and three weeks prior to the start of programs within the U.S. If you ever have questions about your program, please don't hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

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The latest in light, portable, easy-to-use QUIETVOX listening devices are available on Road Scholar programs.* Whether you are outdoors, in a crowd or in a museum environment where speaking loudly is discouraged, a listening device makes it feel like our experts are speaking clearly and directly to you. Hear for yourself on a Road Scholar adventure!

*Please note that due to the nature of some programs, the remote location or government regulations, listening devices may not be available. If you’d like to know for sure if your program will offer listening devices, just call and ask an Advisor!